Whippersnapper: Isaac Notestine a key figure in the success of Canaan Academy, started in 1843

Published: March 11, 2012 12:00 AM

By PAUL LOCHER

Staff Writer

CANAAN TWP. -- Another very prominent figure in the ongoing development of Canaan Township, a generation after the actual pioneers first settled the area, was Isaac Notestine.

The son of Wayne County pioneer Jonas Notestine who was born in Pennsylvania on June 3, 1787, Isaac was born in Jefferson County on March 24, 1822, and moved to Wayne County where he remained until the age of 22. At the age of 18, he decided to attend Edinburg Academy (today part of Apple Creek), then under the management of a Reverend Andrews.

Notestine continued going to school and teaching during the winter months, attending the first session of the Canaan Academy, starting in December 1843, with C.C. Bombarger being the first principal.

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Canaan Academy was one of the very first institutions of learning in Wayne County and was located in the village of Windsor (today Canaan Center). The building, erected in 1842, was a two-story frame structure measuring 36 by 48 feet.

The academy was controlled by a board of directors, and the first board consisted of John Paul, M.D., Jonas Notestine, Justin Mills, Harvey Rice and Alfred Hotchkiss.

The school was opened Dec. 3, 1843, with 47 pupils under the instruction of professor C.C. Bomberger, A.B., who taught for three years. The Revs. Barr and Barker had charge of the institution during the summer of 1847. They were succeeded in the winters of 1847 and 1848 by professor Isaac Notestine who, with short intervals of absence, remained in charge until 1863.

On June 1, 1848, Notestine married Elizabeth Frank, whom Wayne County historian Ben Douglass described as "a highly intelligent and refined lady." The couple had five children.

It was while professor Notestine was teaching in the winter of 1851 that the frame structure burned down, and a brick building was erected in its stead.

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During his time at the academy, Notestine taught 36 academy terms, one term of select and six terms of district school. After 1862 he decided to abandon the classroom in favor of returning to his farm.

After that year, the school was taught by a number of professors until 1875 when it was permanently closed, professor J.W. Cummings having charge at that time.

Writing in about 1877, Douglass noted, "It is conceded that the Canaan Academy has been an important factor in the educational work of this and adjoining counties."

Douglass wrote of Notestine that he "has had a remarkable experience in the schoolroom, and we deem it appropriate to classify him with such veterans in the service as (John) Brinkerhoff and (Joseph) Downing (both of Wooster). He is an excellent scholar, a man of strong natural qualities of brain, possessed of a methodical and mathematical mind, and of sterling and decided character."

Source: "History of Wayne County, Ohio" by Ben Douglass

Monday: Notestine remembers early Canaan Township

Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055 or plocher@the-daily-record.com.